CHICAGO--Barack Obama is in New Orleans today--Louisiana votes Saturday--and in a speech he will unveil his plan to rebuild the city and Gulf Coast, plus other post-Katrina business. He will also tour a local school.

Meanwhile, the Hillary Rodham Clinton camp is trying to get Obama to agree to more debates. This morning, Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle (and Chicago native) wrote Obama campaign manager David Plouffe pushing for a string of one-on-ones.

Doyle's point is that there has been only one-on-one debate.

Plouffe and Obama's rebuttal is that they have had plenty, referring to the debates with Dodd, Biden, Edwards, Kucinich, Gravel on the stage. Click for the Solis-Doyle letter. Obama said Wednesday he'll do at least one more.

Who's the underdog now?

Dear David:

Congratulations again on your victories Tuesday night. As Senator Obama declared, it was a great evening for Democrats.

One of the things I've always appreciated about the Democratic Party is its willingness to engage the toughest issues facing our country, even if we don't always agree on how best to solve them.

After seven years of a Bush administration that has left the economy struggling and our health care system in crisis, Americans are certainly facing their fair share of challenges and deserve to hear how the candidates for the nomination will address them.

As such, I was disappointed to see that Senator Obama rejected the idea of having more debates given the fact that he and Senators Clinton have had only a single one-on-one debate. I think we can do better and so does Hillary.

Senator Clinton believes voters should have more than one opportunity to see the candidates discuss the issues and has accepted five debates between now and March 4th from CNN, MSNBC, WJLA, ABC and Fox News.

To that end, we hope Senator Obama will join Senator Clinton for a debate a week beginning this weekend. I'm sure we can find a suitable place to meet on the campaign trail. There's too much at stake and the issues facing the country are too grave to deny voters the opportunity to see the candidates up close.

As Senator Obama has said, "In an era when Americans are rightfully skeptical about the quality of our politics, let us set an example [they] can be proud of and give them the kind of campaign they deserve." We couldn't agree more.

Sincerely,

Patti Solis Doyle

Campaign Manager

###

February 7, 2008

David Plouffe, Campaign Manager

Obama for America

P.O. Box 8102

Chicago, IL 60680

=========================================================
lynn --

I was writing a note to you about the state of the race after Super Tuesday when we got some startling news.

The Clinton campaign just announced that Hillary and Bill Clinton injected $5 million of their personal fortune into her campaign a few days ago.

This is a dramatic move, and a clear acknowledgement that our campaign has the momentum. We saw undeniable evidence of that last night as the results came in.

Barack Obama won the most states and the most delegates on February 5th.

We have gotten to this point thanks to an unprecedented outpouring of support from ordinary Americans.

To date, more than 650,000 people like you have taken ownership of this campaign, giving whatever they can afford.

The Clinton infusion of $5 million -- and there are reports it could end up being as much as $20 million -- will give them huge resources for the next set of primaries and caucuses.

Thanks to you, we have raised more than $3 million since the polls closed on February 5th. But we have no choice -- we must match their $5 million right now.

We're going to do it the right way, with small donations from people like you. It's never been more urgent that you make a donation of $25 right now:

https://donate.barackobama.com/results

Just two weeks ago we were behind by double-digits in many of the states that voted yesterday, but Barack won 13 states to 8 states for Hillary Clinton, with one state (New Mexico) still counting votes.

This is an enormous victory, and it's all thanks to you.

We won yesterday because thousands upon thousands of individual supporters canvassed their neighborhoods, talked to their neighbors and friends, and made phone calls to remind their fellow supporters to get out the vote.

And we accomplished all of this with a campaign funded by ordinary people giving only what they can afford.

Yesterday was proof that America is ready for change -- and that you are the force to make that change happen.

But there's still a long way to go before Barack becomes the Democratic nominee. In the next week alone, six more states will hold their primaries and caucuses.

We need to match this $5 million personal contribution from the Clintons immediately and put these resources to work in the states that will vote next.

Please make a donation of $25 now:

https://donate.barackobama.com/results

Here are some details about yesterday's historic victory. According to official results and exit polls:

Barack won 2-to-1 in traditionally conservative states where Democrats are hungry for a nominee who can change the map and help Democrats up and down the ticket win in November

Our winning coalition included Americans of every race, background, and gender -- including 64% of women in Georgia

We scored wins in every region of the country -- New England, the Mid-Atlantic, the South, the Midwest, the Rocky Mountain states, and the West

Americans had a clear choice to make yesterday, and they chose Barack Obama.

Now let's match this $5 million and take this campaign into the next stage.

Thank you,

David

David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

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5 Comments

Obama's speech in New Orleans contained nothing new that he has not proposed before and was stated in such a way that he would help New Orleans residents get contracts to rebuild. It was a very apparent voting getting speech but I doubt the media will ask if he was pandering.

Obama is not that quick on his feet. I'm sure his managers don't want to let him face Hillary one on one, unscripted, any more than they absolutely have to. He depends on his speechwriter, his teleprompter, and having centre stage with the cult followers swaying and moaning in unison.

Hillary will be ready immediately when she enters the White House. She is brilliant, knows all the world leaders. She will be change and her experience, her connections will be the only way we can have change.
Barrack only agrees, maybe to 2 debates?? He claims he wants to spend more time with his voters. He can spend an hour a week with MILLIONS of voters if he agreed to weekly debates. Why is no one questioning his book?
His nuclear energy connections. It's endless really.